The moment those words were uttered, Kane's entire body shifted as a mysterious energy wrapped around it out of nowhere. It was bright blue and quite pleasing to look at. However, as that energy grew and wrapped around Kane, it suddenly exploded everywhere around him, spreading to every corner in the venue.
Everyone felt the wave of energy wash against their bodies, gathering several gasps of shock. Even Rize, who hadn't awakened his core yet, could feel the shift in the atmosphere as even more pressure was put on his shoulder.
'This is…'
"Such… Such a strong aura." Geralt muttered in disbelief. "His Highness Kane… He is…"
He couldn't even find the words to describe what he was seeing. The energy kept growing endlessly as if it had no limit. Kane's body, at the same time, kept absorbing it relentlessly as if it was hungry for every ounce of it. The more it absorbed, the more it kept changing and shifting.
"His Highness…"
"His talent is immense!"
"This aura! How is it this strong already?!"
The looks of awe spread across the masses. They could not believe that the prince was already exuding such a strong essence when he had just barely awakened. This wasn't normal, as anyone else who awakens should only have a small amount of essence.
Their core needs time to grow and absorb more essence before it could even get anywhere near the level of essence Kane was exuding at that moment. It was only an indication of his immense talent.
'Kane was always a very strong character in the story and one of the pivotal characters in general. I'm still shocked at how strong he is… I guess it runs in the family.' Rize thought to himself as he stared at the boy.
The way he stood there, his calm expression, his royal presence, his essence that kept unleashing from his body. He appeared like a deity amongst the crowd. Someone so far and beyond everyone else.
Rize, however, didn't think that was good. After all, Kane was going to be a potential enemy in the future, and the fact that his enemy was this strong already was not a very good situation.
'Dammit…' He clenched his fists. 'I need to work hard if I want to survive this.'
Rize was already working very hard, but he knew that the moment he awoke, he had to hurry up and get strong. Luckily, he knew many ways to boost his growth speed and get to the point he wanted to get to before things got out of hand.
'I will need to start planning everything soon. Even if it's still quite early. With all the changes that happened, I can't take anything to chance.' Rize clenched his fists as he felt his determination rise.
The story hasn't even begun yet. He was far from ready for anything.
After what felt like several minutes of it, the essence finally calmed down before it was all absorbed by Kane's body, and the entire venue was finally submerged in quiet again.
Nobody uttered a single word for a while before someone started clapping amongst the crowd. Then, another one started clapping, and then another… Like a chain reaction, the entire venue erupted in clapping.
"Absolutely magnificent, your highness!"
"I cannot believe my eyes!"
"I guess it was indeed worth the wait!"
The reactions were mostly positive and cheering. Everyone was in awe at the show they just witnessed. Meanwhile, Kane seemed still occupied with something in front of him that nobody else could see. He looked confused and rather taken aback.
At that moment, the man stepped forward. "Thank you all. His Highness' talent is truly formidable. He, and every other Prince and Princess, are gifted with the power to lead and rule. They are the hope and light of our great nation!"
*CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP*
As the clapping continued, Kane finally snapped out of it and turned around before he walked away. At the same time, the king and his wife walked down the stairs to greet the guests.
"That's it?" Rize asked.
"His Highness needs to rest after awakening; it's a very taxing process. Now, for the part that most of these people came here for. Socializing with the King and the Queen themselves."
Rize watched as several people stood up to go and greet the King and the Queen. Each one of them bowed deeply before they talked to them.
The rest were eager for their chance to talk to them. The entire Venue became active again out of nowhere.
At the same time, Rize saw Venera walk down the stairs, only to be stopped by several Nobles to greet her. Venera handled the situation perfectly with her calm, graceful demeanor and her strong presence.
Rize watched her secretly from the side, curious what she was doing. At the same time, Rize noticed that some of the nobles who approached her had their young children with them. Specifically boys.
"Really… They're trying to impress her with their young boys?" He muttered as he rolled his eyes. "These people couldn't be more obvious about it."
Naturally, trying to get the Princess' hand in marriage was a dream for every noble there. She had the beauty, the brains, the talent, and the status to make her the perfect wife that would change their clans forever.
However, what they didn't realize was that Venera didn't like romance at all. She, in fact, thought it was a waste of time and a pointless thing.
'Well, that was the case until she met the protagonist. Then, with his protagonist powers, he was able to make her fall oh so deeply in love with him. Such a beautiful story… *Ptuh* Makes me want to puke.' Rize mused as he drank some water.
'In any case, I'm glad things didn't go completely out of control. It seems things calmed down for now. But nobody will forget what happened at all.'
Rize knew better than to just accept things at face value. This world has schemes, traps, tricks, and a constant struggle for the title of the strongest.
Sucking a deep breath, Rize looked at Geralt.
"Should we leave, sir?"
"No, not yet," Geralt replied. "I need to talk to His Esteemed Self."
"Ehhh, ok," Rize said as he leaned against his hand, bored while watching the interaction between the Royal Family and the numerous Nobles. For a long while, that was the only situation.
It seemed pretty stressful to deal with, and yet none of the Royal Family members seemed bothered on the surface. They were trained to handle these events well.
As Rize watched the scenes, his eyes went back to Venera, who was finally able to escape from the many nobles around her and walked to grab water from the buffet.
Rize blinked a few times before he got an idea.
"Sigh…" Venera sighed as she drank her water, trying to hide her sheer exhaustion.
"You look like you're not having fun." A voice said to her.
Looking up, Venera didn't see anyone. However, she knew that voice, and she relaxed instantly.
"Being a Princess is never fun." She said. "You didn't seem like you were having fun either."
"Hm, were you watching me the entire time?" Rize asked.
"Perhaps I was; perhaps I wasn't."
"You…"
"But you did come," Vener said as she walked around the table and peeked around the corner where Rize was leaning against the wall. She stared at him; he stared at her as she smiled faintly.
"You didn't disappoint… Mr Escort."